Hangman's Curse
by Angel's Star
Summary: Wierd things have been happening at Trunks' school. Three jocks are in the hospital in a coma. They only mutter two words: Abel Frye.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Helllooooo, everybody! This story is to celebrate my Daddy fixing the computer. Yep, it's fixed. That means I'll be doing a bit more typing! Soooooo, I hope you enjoy it! And anybody who has seen the movie, please don't spoil it for those who haven't. Thanks and enjoy!

Disclaimer: How many times must I say it? I don't own DB/Z/GT! Oh, and here's a change too: I don't own Hangman's Curse or the opening song (don't know its name, though. Hee hee).

You need to know: Trunks is 16 and Goten is 15. The end.

Chapter 1.

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With your eyes wide open...

And your hands bound shut...

Will they ever remember?

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Early morning. The dim light of the sun of the sun shone down on the school. Outside it stood a boy. He looked like he was about 16 years old. He began to slowly walk to the door. As he opened it, he looked to his right to see some stairs that led to the stairwell. He walked up those and entered the stairwell. It smelled old and looked the part, too. Well, after quite a few flights of stairs, the boy exited it and entered a hall. He walked up some stairs and entered the attic. It was dusty and only a few dim lights brightened the room. A large wooden tower stood in the middle of the room. A wooden pole, which was attached, was built high and strong with only a little over the edge.

Now, the boy was on top of the tower and was tying the rope he had carried to the pole. He glanced down as he slipped it over his neck. He was about ten feet above the floor. With a smile, he stepped off the edge.

Where there once was a body full of life, hung a cold lifeless body.

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Ten years later....

Scratching. That's the sound that could be heard in the dark hall one night. Only a few lights lit up the hall. A figure, dressed in black, was stooped in a locker and was making the noise. The person finished chiseling and began to color the picture with some sort of blue chalk. The picture was a hangman with out stretched arms and legs.

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"Ok!" A boy with sort of spiky black hair called. "'Bye, Mom! 'Bye, Dad! Have a nice trip!" This is 15 year old Goten.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm sure they'll have a nice trip, but can we please go back to bed?" Asked a 16-year-old boy with lavender hair. Yep, this is Trunks.

"It's nine 'o clock in the morning, son. You _really_ need to get up," said a blue haired genius. Yeah, it's Bulma, of course.

"Yeah, and what about that football game you wanted to take Goten to see?" Asked a mini clone of Bulma. Of course it's Bra.

"Football game?" Goten asked.

"I'll tell ya about it later," Trunks said. "How 'bout we get somethin' to eat?"

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"Go! Go! Team, go!" Cheerleaders chanted from the sidelines of the football game.

The school band was up in the stands and was playing a tune on their instruments. People all around screamed, cheered, jumped up and down, and just about anything else they do at football games.

"And another point scored by Jimmy Boltz!" The announcer said over the intercom. That made the crowd scream and cheer even louder.

The team gathered to make a new plan.

"What's the play, Jimmy?" One of team members asked.

"I-I don't know," he said while wobbling back a few steps. "You take it."

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"Hey, that guy don't look so good," Goten commented. He and Trunks were seated in the very back, close to a group of Gothic teens.

"Yeah, I know," Trunks said.

Goten looked over at the Gothic group and saw one boy smirk at Jimmy Boltz. Before the half-Saiyan could say anything, the next play began.

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Jimmy had the ball and was looking for a receiver. Somebody from the other team came at him. Suddenly, Jimmy's vision went black and white and the person in front of him had his hand out stretched to him, his head slightly tilted to one side, and had a faint image of a rope around his neck.

Jimmy dropped the ball. It was all he could think to do! He ran to the sidelines and grabbed his head. Everything was beginning to spin. He could barely hear some one from his team shout, "What are you doin', man?" The boy dropped to the ground and began to thrash around, almost like a wild animal. His parents, the coach, the teams, and anybody who wanted to came.

As the coach watched Jimmy's Mom cradle the boy's head he shouted, "Mrs. Werthing, have you seen enough?! This makes three of my players!"

Jimmy managed to open his eyes and look at some one. The person was reaching for him and had an image of a rope around his neck.

"Abel Frye!" He screamed.

"Man, I think Abel's got him," a boy said.

"Abel..." another boy said.

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"Who's Abel Frye?" Goten asked.

"Their ghost," Trunks pointed to the Gothic group. Goten looked and saw the boy who had smirked at Jimmy get up and motion for a girl to get up too. Before Goten could ask who they were, Trunks answered. "Those two are Ian Snyder and Crystal Sparks. Let's go."

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Late that night, far past the bedtime for two certain half-Saiyans, Trunks and Goten were making a plan...

"So we'll be like investigators, but we can't let any one know," Goten said.

"Yeah," Trunks nodded. "You'll be a geek, or a nerd, or whatever you wanna call it, and I'l be popular!"

"Why can't I be popular?" Goten asked.

"Because I said so," Trunks said. "It won't be that bad. You can talk to other geeks. But you can't talk with me, jocks, cheerleaders, normal people, or the Goths."

"Why can't I talk to the Goths?"

"'Cause they're not at your social point. They're all out there some where. And be sure to stay clear of Ian Snyder."

"Why?"

"Why? Why? Why? Is that all you ask?"

"Sorry."

"It's ok. I was just joking, anyway. Just take my advice and stay away from Ian Snyder and the Goths."

"Ok."

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It was the next morning. The two boys were in the principle's office. No, they weren't in trouble. They were getting Goten registered as a student.

"Ok, Mr. Son, you're ready for your first class," Mrs. Werthing said, handing him a list of his classes.

"All right," Trunks said. "Biology is up the stairs, to the right, two lefts, and you're there!"

Goten stared at the paper and wondered just how on earth he would remember the instructions.

"Norman!" Trunks called to a nerd.

"What?" He asked. Norman didn't really look like a nerd. He didn't have the nerdy glasses, but he sure dressed like a nerd.

"Take my buddy to biology," Trunks said.

"Well, ok," Norman said. "C'mon."

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While Norman was taking Goten to his class, they spotted two jocks bullying one of the Goths. Goten recognized the one getting bullied. It was Ian.

"Hey, Norman, how come nobody's helping Ian?" He asked.

"Nobody cares whether he or his friends get hurt," Norman said. "We're going to be late for your class, so hurry up."

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I wish I could help Ian somehow. Goten thought as he watched a boy take his money.

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Trunks sat in the back of his class like always. Sure, he looked and acted like he was paying attention, but his mind was else where. He knew about the school legend and he had heard about people seeing Abel Frye. Everybody knew that. But something about it all didn't ring true. That's why he and Goten were investigating.

The bell rang, jarring him back to reality. Time to go eat lunch.

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"Find out anything?" Goten whispered to Trunks as he passed.

"No," Trunks whispered back.

"Same here."

Goten sat down at a table with the nerds. After a moment of silence, he finally asked, "I've been hearing some talk about Abel Frye. What's that all about?"

A real geeky looking kid, who was sitting across the table from him, was first to speak," I guess you're the new kid, huh?"

Goten nodded.

"Well, Abel Frye was just a kid like us," he began. "Everyday, the jocks and cheerleaders would pick on him. One day, the girl he had a crush on totally embarrassed him in front of everybody. That night, he lured her into the forbidden wing and stabbed her to death! And the next morning, he hung himself. So now, his ghost walks the halls of this school, getting revenge for anybody who calls on him."

Goten shook his head in disbelief. This place sure had a way of making up legends.

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A/N: There! The first chapter is done! I hope you guys enjoy it! Now, you've got a little background on Abel Frye. Sorry to hurry off so soon, but I gotta go eat supper!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I'm back and ready to put out a new chapter! Good for me and you. Ya know, I once heard that putting out chapters for your stories is good for your health, mind, and soul. There is one side effect; it might drive you crazy. Just kiddin'. I never heard that before. It's just somethin' stupid I made up. Now, ON WITH THE FIC!!!

Disclaimer: I still don't own DB/Z/GT, Hangman's Curse, or Workin' It Out by Hilary Duff. (obsession is good) 0 : )

Chapter 2.

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It's hard enough to be what you are.

Harder to be what you're not.

It's hard to know what you need to get.

Harder to know what you've got.

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"Here we go again," whispered a preppy looking girl at Trunks' table.

Trunks looked up to see a large jock at the Goth table. The jock was looking at one of Crystal Sparks' drawings.

Nothing good could ever come from being near the Goths. Everybody knew that. The Goths had earned... "respect", if that's what you want to call it. There were rumors that they controlled Abel Frye's ghost. If you picked on them, you were sure to get a visit from Abel. That's just how they survived in a place like this.

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Goten was close enough to the Goth's table to hear Crystal say, "Any one you know?"

He figured trouble could only follow that statement, so he took a deep breath and began to make his way over there.

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The jock looked frustrated by the comment. He dropped the picture and grabbed Ian by the shirt and pulled him to his feet. Ian broke free and stepped back a few steps.

"Lenny, just let it go," his friend said, trying to calm him down.

But Leonard, or "Lenny", wasn't listening. He grabbed Ian by the throat and almost shouted, "Do you know how easy it would be for me to break you?!" This caught the attention of every one in the lunchroom. Leonard's friend tried to hold him back, but wasn't having any luck.

"Excuse me," Goten said as he got nearer. " Is there a problem here?"

"No, now back off," Lenny said.

Goten frowned and got closer. As he did, he could see how big Lenny was compared to him and Ian Snyder. The jock was tall and not the thinnest person you've ever seen. He fit the jock role almost perfectly. Ian, on the other hand, was thin and pale. Wearing black didn't help at all. Some of his dark brown hair had been gelled down in front of his face and the ring in his lip gave him the perfect Gothic look.

Goten looked down at Crystal. She was sitting in her chair, watching the whole thing. The half-Sayian figured she was Ian's girl friend. She had orange hair, which was pulled back in two braids. She wore the heavy eye make-up and also had on lots of black lipstick. She, too, was pale and wore black, but she wasn't as thin as Ian.

"Well, it looks like-" Goten started, once he was closer.

"I said back off!" Leonard swung his arm at the boy.

Goten grabbed it, twisted it around to the jock's back, and slammed him onto the table, causing it to slide a few inches.

"You wanna play twister?" Goten asked.

"Blake, you got my back?" Lenny called back to his friend.

"Double teaming geeks?" Blake questioned. "I don't roll like that, man."

He walked away and Goten let his hostage go. The boy glared at Goten, then walked through the sea of students that had gathered. As he went, a bunch of "oooh"s and "aaah"s came from different people. The half-Sayian looked back at Ian to make sure he was ok, then walked back to his table. Ian picked up a few pieces of paper, put them back on the table, and sat down.

For some reason, the students started to cheer for Goten. Obviously, he had become more than a geek to them.

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I'm really gonna haft'a talk to Goten about what he did back there. Trunks thought.

"So, where did Abel Frye stretch his neck?" Asked a new girl.

"We'll show you," another girl said.

A group of girls walked out of the cafeteria. Trunks followed a few feet behind. The group made their way to a blocked off area.

"That's it," a girl with brown hair said. "They started remodeling it with the rest of the school, but money ran out."

After a few minutes, the group turned and left. Well, every one but Trunks. He walked up to the door and pulled out a paper clip. After a few seconds of fidgeting with the lock, it finally opened.

"Here we go," Trunks smirked as he opened the door.

The room was covered with plastic. A few ladders and paint buckets stood in various places in the room. One ladder stood next to an open door. Trunks walked on through and into a dark hall. Plastic completely covered it. The boy walked down the hall and rounded the corner. A door stood open and led to some stairs. He walked on up them and pushed aside some plastic that was hanging in front of the door.

"Whoa..." he said to himself.

He made a small energy blast to light the way and walked to an empty room to his left. Nothing but a bunch of dust was in that room, so he walked back to the room in which he had started and walked to the room ahead. Old desks filled it and light shone in through the partly closed windows. Trunks exited through the only other door. The next place he went was to a hall. He began to walk through the winding hall. Every room was dark. As he walked through one part of the hall, something caught his eye. He looked to his right and yelped. He jumped back and banged against a scaffold. Everything went black.

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Goten rounded the corner and walked to the nurse's office. He didn't have much time because it was in between classes. He entered the office and said, "Hey. Heard some ghost gave you a beat down."

"Very funny," Trunks said sarcastically.

"So what really happened?" Goten asked.

"I saw something... or somebody," the older boy said.

"Was it from this world?" Goten gave a dramatic pause. "Or the next?"

Trunks gave him a playful punch.

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"How was your first day at school?" Bulma called from the kitchen.

"Pretty cool," Goten called back.

"Hey, I need to talk to you," Trunks said.

The two boys made their way to the living room and sat down on the couch. After a few seconds of silence, Trunks spoke. "Why'd you help Ian?"

"He needed help," the younger boy said.

"Look. Nobody cares whether he gets hurt or not."

"I care," Goten defended. "I care whether it's Ian, or a nerd, or a jock."

"If you wanna fit in, buddy, try not to care."

"I can't help it! I don't know how those other kids were raised, but I was raised to be there when somebody needed help. And it sure looked like Ian needed it."

Trunks shook his head. "Never mind. Did you find out anything?"

"Yeah! Some kids say they can hear the ghost during play rehearsal. Maybe we should check it out."

"Sounds good to me, but Mom probably won't let us sneak around school at night."

"She doesn't haft'a know, does she?"

"No."

"Maybe we could get your sister to come."

"Stephanie?" Trunks questioned. "She wouldn't agree. Would she?"

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A/N: Well, will Stephanie agree? And what was it Trunks saw in the hall? I know, but you don't! And again, please don't spoil this for anyone who hasn't read the book or seen the movie. I doubt you guys would do that, but I'm just sayin' it anyway.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Well, I didn't get many reviews for the last chapter, but that's ok! At least somebody reviewed, right? Thank you, Candy the Duck, for reviewing the last chapter. At least you like it. I hope Flaming red dragon comes back (cries). Where'd ya go, Steph?! Anyway, read and review, guys!

Disclaimer: I still don't own DB/Z/GT, Hangman's Curse, or Workin' It Out. Yeah, I'm using that song again. : D

Chapter 3.

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Sometimes I'm just surrounded by friends.

Sometimes we've never met.

Sometimes I pray for somethin' I need.

But hey, ya never know when you're gonna get it.

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After supper, Trunks and Goten mentioned their little plan to Stephanie. She seemed hesitant at first, and it took the boys a while to convince her to come, but she eventually agreed. As soon as she agreed, they dressed in black, got their flashlights, got the digital recorder, and headed outside.

"Can I drive?" Goten asked as Stephanie uncapsuled a hover car.

"No," Trunks said as he got in and buckled up.

"But, I've got my permit and we have a licensed driver!" Goten protested. "Two licensed drivers!"

"No," Stephanie said as she buckled up and started the hover car.

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The school was empty. The sun had already gone down and made the building look a little creepy. All the lights were off and the staff had gone home. Everything was as it should be. Well, almost everything. Three figures, all dressed in black, lingered outside the school. Two of them messed with the lock while one of them kept guard. Once the door was open, they crept in.

They moved silently through the halls. Like shadows. The only sound they made was the sound of their shoes on the floor. They rounded the corner and walked up to a trophy case. One person shone their flashlight on it and said, "Look."

"Wow," said the girl of the group. It was Stephanie. "They sure have a lot of trophies."

She pointed her flashlight at it. There were all sorts of trophies. Some big, some small, some first place, some last. Next to them were pictures of the people who had won them. There were also ribbons, for when the team hadn't done well.

As Stephanie was scanning the case, her flashlight shone on something. Whatever it was looked scary and made Goten jump.

"It's just a picture," Trunks said calmly. "Don't worry."

"I wasn't worried," Goten said. "It just startled me."

Stephanie pointed her flashlight at the picture that was hanging next to the trophy case. It was a gruesome picture. The background was black and two people, who looked like they were in misery, were being attacked by little gray monsters. One person was having its arm almost pulled off. The other was being covered by the little monsters.

"Crystal Sparks," Trunks read.

"Must be what Ian and Crystal feel like... every time they come to school," Goten said.

"Who are they?" Stephanie asked.

"We'll show ya later," Trunks said. "Now lets go find a ghost."

Steph was a little confused by the statement "we'll show ya later.", but didn't press the mater any further. Instead, she followed the two boys to the Forbidden Wing. That's where Trunks had seen the "ghost". The trio made their way to the place where Trunks thought he saw the ghost.

"Hey," Steph said. "There's your 'ghost'."

"Then what hit me?" Trunks asked.

"You must've fallen against this metal bar, caused that pipe to fall off the scaffold, and the pipe hit you on the head," Goten finished the thought. The two other half-Saiyans stared at him. Who knew Goten could be so smart?

Finally, Trunks snapped out of it and rolled his eyes. "Let's just set up the digital recorder."

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"Yeah, this place will do," Trunks said as he put the recorder in a small hole in the wall.

"Guess that's it, right?" Stephanie asked.

"Yup," Goten smiled at a job well done.

As they were making their way back down the stairs, they heard something. It was faint, but their Saiyan hearing picked it up with no trouble. They looked at each other. There was no need for words. They all heard it. The three ran back up the stairs and began to look around. With every step they took, the sound got louder. It sounded like chanting.

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Con tu duc a spirit... Great is ashila...

The trio ran through a classroom and froze for a second. No, the sound hadn't stopped. They continued on through the room.

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Five people, dressed in black hooded robes, spun around a star that was painted on the floor. They stopped spinning and knelt down. The leader of the group put a little "doll" on the end of his stick and walked to an altar.

"Con du toc un an toona," he said as he put the "doll" to the wall above the altar. The other four began to repeat what the leader just said.

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Trunks, Stephanie, and Goten raced to the next room. The chanting was loudest in there. Steph knelt down to an air vent and listened. It was really loud there.

"It's coming from down here!" She said and motioned the other two half-Saiyans to get down. As soon as they did, the sound stopped.

"It's gone..." Trunks said softly.

They heard a bang coming from a room downstairs. The three got up and Goten said, "Let's get outta here."

"Yeah," The other two agreed.

As they were making their way down the stairs, Goten's flashlight shone on the door. A figure dressed in black was peering in through the window. Stephanie screamed and caused the figure to back away from the door.

"What?!" Trunks shouted.

"Something's down there!" She pointed at the door.

By now, the figure was gone. The trio ran down the stairs a burst through the door. The large metal door just ahead was closing. They ran out the door and began to look around. A bang to their right gave them a hint as to which way to go.

"C'mon!" Trunks said as he ran ahead. Stephanie and Goten followed.

The night air was damp and chilly as they ran. The streetlights were on, so they didn't need their flashlights.

The three half-Saiyans came to a fenced in area. The door was open slightly, so Trunks opened it and the three walked in. A pile of old desks and chairs were piled up to their left and a door stood just ahead. Stephanie walked up to it and read what it said. "Boiler room."

"Hey, here's an old FBI move!" Goten said as he pushed Steph away from the door. The boy kicked it, but not with his full strength. Next, he put his foot on it and pulled. Still no luck.

"Oh, wow! Could you teach me that?" Trunks asked. The comment was dripping with sarcasm.

"Shut up, all right!" Goten said. "I'm gonna go look over there."

Trunks and Stephanie were still laughing as they walked up to the door. Trunks charged up an energy blast so he could open the door. Steph shone her light on the door, but looked up further and saw a shadow. Already being creeped out, she screamed. Trunks made the blast disappear and looked back.

"Sssh! You tryin' to wake the dead?" Ian Snyder asked. Somehow, the boy had managed to get up onto the top of the fence.

"I hear that's your job," Trunks countered as Goten came up to them.

"What are you doing here?" Stephanie asked.

"Well, I could ask you the same question," Ian said. "Flashlights, all black clothes. You plannin' on pryin' into somebody else's business? I wouldn't do that."

The last part sounded almost like a threat and the three half-Saiyans knew it. Goten shook it off and tried to explain what they were doing there.

"Well, Ian, ya see-" he started, but cut himself off when he heard the fence clang a few times. "Ian? Ian!"

But the boy was gone.

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As the three drove home, Trunks said, "Something's definitely goin' on down at my school and I'd like to have some one else there. Steph, you think you could stick around until we figure out what's goin' on?"

"Please?" Goten asked from the back seat.

"Sure," she said. "I'll try my best to blend in."

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The next morning came. It was in between classes as Lenny walked down the hall to his locker. He opened it and grabbed some of his stuff from the bottom of his locker. Before he closed it, he noticed something on the floor of the locker. Lenny leaned closer. It was the hangman. Dread began to fill the boy's head as he looked around nervously. Abel Frye wou be giving him a visit anytime...

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A/N: CLIFFIE!! Such an evil thing they are. So when will Abel Frye visit Leonard? Why was Ian Snyder at the school at night? Read and review and I'll put out the next chapter faster.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Hello! I'm back and with another chapter! This is one of the big update chapters. If you haven't read "Knights In Shinning Armor", "Goten's New Breakfast Cereal", and "Digi Saga: Part One", I suggest you head over to one of them after you guys read this. And so, for your reading pleasure, R&R!

Disclaimer: I still don't own DB/Z/GT, Hangman's Curse, or Superstition (by Raven).

Chapter 4.

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Seven years of bad luck.

The good things in the past.

You believe in things that you don't understand, you won't suffer.

Superstition ain't the way.

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"One! Two! Three!" The coach shouted as the students did jumping-jacks. The gym class had been moved outside because it was such a nice day.

Two certain Goths were in the gym class doing jumping-jacks. Crystal was putting in as much effort as anybody, but she was off-beat. Ian, on the other hand, was barely jumping, much less moving his arms up and down.

"Four! Five! Six! Seven!" The coach continued counting and shouting.

Ian eventually stopped jumping and just stood there. He kept an eye on the coach so he wouldn't get caught.

Leonard and Blake had been sitting in the stands watching the "wimps" work out. The two boys had something to discuss with Ian, so Lenny went down to the class, grabbed Ian, and shoved him along towards the bleachers. Instead of going up on them, though, the three went behind them.

Crystal had been busy with her jumping-jacks, so she didn't notice Leonard taking Ian away. When she looked up, she saw them shoving him around to the back of the bleachers. She stopped her jumping-jacks and debated over what to do.

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Once the two bullies and their victem got behind the bleachers, Lenny shooved Ian up against some metal poles hard. The Gothic boy winced as the bully shouted, "Call off your ghost!"

"Why?" Ian asked. "Ya scared?"

"Call it what you want, but enough is enough!" Lenny slamed Ian against the bars again.

"Yeah, but then you'd miss all this fun," the Gothic boy said.

"Ian, what's going on?" Crystal asked as she walked up to them.

Blake grabbed her and shoved her against some other metal bars.

"Stop it!" She screamed.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Ian asked as the two bullies switched victems.

Blake pushed Ian back up against the bars. Lenny grabbed Crystal's cell phone and threw it on the ground.

"Hey, man, this is enough!" Blake said to Lenny.

"No!" She screamed some more. "Stop it!"

Stephanie, who had been watching the whole thing, walked up to them and shoved the two bullies away. The two boys looked shocked when she said to the Goths, "Alright. You two can go."

Crystal left immideatly, but Ian waited a second, as if making sure she would really let them go with out an insult. As soon as both were gone, the coach walked up to the three and asked, "Is there a problem here?"

"Naw," Lenny said.

"Yeah," Stephanie said.

"Why don't you boys take a couple of laps now?" The coach said. It wasn't a suggestion. It was a command.

"We're not done here," Steph said.

"NOW!" He shouted.

Lenny and Blake glanced at each other, then left. The coach chuckled a bit as he watched the two go. Then he said, "Snyder. A weak body the result of a weak mind."

"Since when did bullying become part of their education?" Steph asked.

"Since when did being a girl give you the right to correct my teaching?" He mocked her. She didn't like being mocked and he could see it in the way she looked at him. "At times the strong prey on the weak, well, that's part of their education. The weak toughen up, or they get left behind. The strong pervail and we are all better off."

To emphasize his point, he poked her a few times. She didn't like his attitude about the whole "weak getting bullied" thing. This was a chance to teach him a lesson. She grabbed his thumb and bent in backwards.

"Only being strong is your weakest link," she said. "Do you agree, coach?"

"Ah, yeah," he winced in pain.

She let his thumb go, grabbed Crystal's cell phone, and walked away, leaving a very mad and humiliated coach behind.

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Ian Snyder kicked a metal fence hard. He was mad. He walked over to the one where Crystal was at and kicked it too, only not as hard. He leaned over it and rubbed the tobogen on his head.

Crystal was marking furiously in her notebook when she asked, "What did we ever do to them?"

"Nothin'," Ian said as he looked up at her. "Just... be different."

Goten jumped up to where the two Goths were. He could tell both were mad. As he walked up to them, Ian asked, "Where'd you get that?"

Crystal looked up to see Goten standing beside her. In his hand was her cell phone.

"Stephanie wanted me to ask you if this is yours," he said.

"It was," Crystal said.

"You need to report this!"

"Ha. That's a brilliant idea!" She said very sarcasticly. "I can't believe I didn't think of that three cell phones ago."

With that, she closed her notebook and walked away with out her phone.

"Look, it isn't right," Goten said to Ian. "Somebody has to do something about it."

"Somebody has," the Gothic boy said. "Now they're getting theirs."

He started to leave, but Goten pulled him back.

"Playing around with the spirits is dangerous," he said.

"Yeah, so's this school," Ian said, while trying to leave again.

"You just don't know what's behind that door you're opening!" The half-Saiyan stopped him from leaving.

"Oh, I know!"

"No, you don't!"

"Abel Frye is one of us! He's the only hope we have in this place." Ian began to walk away.

"No, Ian, he's not," Goten said as he stopped him again. "Trust me-"

"You know you should _really_ stay out of our business! It could go really bad for you, Trunks, and Stephanie." With that, Ian broke free of Goten's grip and walked away.

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Trunks opened his locker and put in some of his text books. He was pulling out another one when Crystal walked by and said, "I hope Leonard and all of them die!"

This caught the half-Saiyan off gaurd. Crystal didn't normally talk to him and he'd never heard her wish some one would die. He walked over to her and asked in a shocked state, "Um, what?"

"Oh, did I say that out loud?" She asked as she opened her locker.

"Look, Crystal, I know that I don't know you very well, but I don't want you to get hurt," he said.

The orange haired girl gave him a look that said, "Yeah right" as she closed her locker and locked it. She turned around and began to walk down the hall. Trunks followed.

"Crystal!" He called after her. "Crystal!"

She spun around quickly and asked, "What were you doing outside the school last night?"

He had no answer for the question, so she continued, "Look, _if you really care_, stay out of the way. Certain forces have been put into motion and nobody can do anything to change what's going to happen. Watch your back."

The girl spun around and walked down the hall. The last thing she had said sounded like almost like a threat. Almost like the threat Ian had made the night before. Trunks sighed in defeat and walked back to his locker.

-------

Stephanie, Goten, and Trunks were meeting outside near to where the gym class had been held earlier. The two boys were skipping a class just to have this meeting. They were all confused and were trying to sort things out.

"Did you guys find out anything?" Goten asked.

"Well, I know Ian and Crystal have enemies," Stephanie said. "That's just about all I found out, though. Hope that helps."

"Well, it might," Goten said. "Trunks, did you find out anything."

"Uh... Crystal told me that she hopes 'Leonard and all of them die'," he said. "I don't know if that'll be any help or not."

They all thought about it for a minute. Nothing came to their minds. All hope seemed lost until the thought hit them all. "Leonard!"

-------

Saws buzzed and saw-dust flew in the wood work-shop. Students cut, sanded, and painted what ever they happened to be making. The teacher went around the room giving pointers and commenting on their work. Leonard was in this class. He finished cutting his wood and took it to a sanding table.

"Hey, Banes, heard you've been cursed," a boy from a nearby table said. Banes was Leonard's last name. "Have you seen Abel yet?"

"Shut up!" Lenny said.

"So, if he gets you, can I date your girl?" A differant boy asked.

"I said shut up!" Lenny repeated. The boy obeyed.

Suddenly, the room seemed to get cold. Leonard looked up and towards a boy. That boy smirked at him and slid behind a work table. Abel Frye. They had said his name. They were the ones who brought him here. It wasn't all Lenny's fault. He only picked on that Snyder kid from time to time. No real reason for Abel to pay him a visit. But that was it. Snyder controled the ghost.

Leonard's vison became black and white. Panic filled his mind. He began to spin around. He could barely hear the other kids shouting for the teacher. Then, he saw it. The boy stopped dead in his tracks and stared at the figure ahead. It was Abel. His head laid on his right shoulder and made his neck look broken. His flanel shirt was ripped up and looked really old. One hand was reaching to Lenny. One thin hand. Each bone visible through the thin skin. His dry and chapped lips parted in a hidious grin.

Leonard began to spin around some more then he fell. He began to jerk uncontrolibly. He couldn't control himself any more.

"Mr. Goodmen!" One student called as all the other kids crowded around Leonard.

All the kids looked evil to the boy. One man came running at him. He, too, looked evil. The voice was calming, though. It was the voice of his teacher. If it was his teacher, why was he holding him down? If he kept Lenny this way, Abel could get him easier.

Everything went black...

-------

A/N: This is the first time I've ever got chills while writing this story. I didn't even think I could describe things that well. So what happened to Leonard? And who will Abel Frye attack next? Reviewing will help me get the chapters out faster.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I'm back, everybody! Sorry to make you wait so long for this chapter. But I'm glad you guys hung in there and didn't give up on me! I'm not quite sure why I said that, but anyway, here's the next chapter! R&R.

mogmatt: I know this is nothing like the book and I'm glad you read it and my story. But this story is based on the movie. Sorry if I sounded harsh.

(To any one else reading this, I just needed to let mogmatt know that this is based on the movie, not the book. I didn't mean to offend anybody by just saying something to him/her. Sorry if I did.)

Disclaimer: I still don't own DB/Z/GT or Hangman's Curse. It doesn't matter how many times you ask me, 'cause it still won't change. I don't own Supernatural by Raven, either. I do own Stephanie and Cassie, though.

Chapter 5.

-------

__

Maybe super human

Maybe super strength.

I've got the power rollin' and I'm goin', goin', gone!

-------

After Leonard had been Abel Frye's most recent victim, Stephanie decided to investigate his locker, so she brought her favorite dog, Cassie. It wasn't like Cassie was trained to sniff out drugs, or any thing, it's just that she had that talent already built in.

So, the two walked quietly down the hall. It was during a class, so they had to be quiet. Steph opened the locker and Cassie sat nearby. The girl started going through the mess and found a soda straw. She pulled it out and let the Cassie sniff it. Immediately, the dog got excited and started barking quietly.

"Weird..." Steph said as she put the straw into a plastic bag. "So, who else hangs out with this crowd?" There was a moment of silence before the thought hit her, "Blake!"

-------

It was five minutes until classes would let out for the evening. Stephanie and Cassie were checking Blake's locker. For what? They weren't sure. But Steph had already found the hangman etched into the inside of the locker's door. She was still searching the locker's shelf when she found another soda straw. Cassie sniffed it and reacted to it.

"I'll let Mom see these," Stephanie said as she put it in another plastic bag. "Good job, Cassie."

-------

Bulma studied the straws under magnifying glass. She put one straw in a machine and watched the computer. A few numbers popped up along with a few words. "Sugar? Triconal?"

"What?" Steph asked.

"People put triconal in wood, but..." Bulma paused, "I don't know why it's here."

"How about this one?" The girl held up the other straw. "Wait... there's something in this one..."

-------

Trunks sat on the front lawn of Capsule Corp. The sun was shinning and a nice breeze was blowing. But the boy wasn't paying it any attention. He was thinking about all that had gone on that day.

: : Flash back : :

Trunks was sitting in his class when he, the other students, and the teacher heard shouting in the halls. The whole class ran out there to see what it was. What met their eyes wasn't pleasant. Three men dressed in white carried a screaming and thrashing Leonard down the hall.

Rumors about Abel Frye striking again rippled through the crowd. Every one began to get scared. Every one except Trunks and Goten. The two weren't scared, but they weren't happy either.

As the other students followed the doctors and Lenny, the two half-Saiyans stayed behind. They didn't want to see any more. But they did notice Ian Snyder smirk at the most recent victim.

: : End flash back : :

__

Was Ian involved somehow? Trunks thought. _No doubt he has enemies, but he would go so far as to hurt them, right? Goten's just gonna haft'a find out._

After a few minutes, Goten came outside and sat down beside his friend and said, "Ok, spill. What's wrong?"

"Just thinkin' about what happened to Leonard today," Trunks said.

"Figures," the other boy said.

"You think Ian's involved somehow?"

"It's a possibility, I guess."

Trunks nodded in agreement. "So what did Mom and Sis find in the straws?"

"They found a tangled up brown thing in one, along with sugar and... uh... wha'd they call it? Oh yeah! Triconal."

"Why was that in there?"

"Beats me. But your Mom has to go see some doctor. Um... Dr. Algernon. Yeah, that's it!"

"He's a spaz," Trunks smirked. "He's really hyper and weird."

"Wanna listen to the digital recorder's disk?" Goten asked. Sudden subject change.

"OH!" Trunks jumped up. "Somebody has replaced the disk!"

"Why don't I go?" The younger half-Saiyan said as he stood up.

"No, I'll go. It'll only take a couple of minutes."

With that, the older of the two boys set off to the school by air. Goten sighed. He never got to do anything fun.

-------

It was getting dark while Goten was searching for somebody on the computer. He was looking for some one, any one, with the last name Frye. So far, he wasn't having any luck. He was going to have to find someone soon, or else it would be too dark to go out looking for them. Finally, some one came up.

"Boo-ya," he smiled and grabbed a capsule car. He ran outside and threw the capsule. He jumped in the hover car. "Weigh the alternatives. Make a decision..."

-------

Helped beat Mojinbuu, mastered fighting, and the world's biggest looser!" Goten said as he rode down the street on a scooter.

-------

Bulma pulled some paper out of a machine and read something. It seemed to confuse her, so she asked, "Pheromone?"

"Ah. Pheromone," Dr. Algernon Wheeling said. He was in his late fifties, had a lot of graying hair, and wore thick glasses. "A scent given off by one organism that could be picked up by another totally different organism. Like your doggie. She's got a nose for bugs."

"Please tell me you can find out what left that scent," Bulma said.

"Maybe," Algernon said. It didn't sound too hopeful.

-------

Trunks had finished reloading the digital recorder and was walking down the stairs in the Forbidden Wing when he heard a loud bang. It was almost like a door shutting. The boy hurried down the rest of the stairs and ran outside. Another bang. It was coming from the same place where they had the encounter with Ian.

The half-Saiyan ran to the fenced in area. The fence gate was standing opened a bit, so he went in. He didn't see any one, so he walked to the boiler room door. The boy could sense a life force, but didn't know who it belonged to. He tried to open the door and it slid open with ease. He slowly walked in...

-------

Goten climbed over a small fence and looked at the house ahead of him. It was very small and only a few lights were on. He crept up to a nearby tree and hid there. Something stuck to his face. It was a spider web. The boy swung his arms furiously in hopes of getting the thing off.

A light came on in a nearby window. Goten ran to the next tree, but tripped on a low tire swing. He got up and heard something click behind him. He froze.

"Turn around."

Goten obeyed and saw a riffle pointed at his face. A little woman with gray hair was holding it and a flashlight.

"Um... I was just looking for some one," the boy said.

"In the yard?" She asked.

"Look, could you tell me where Abel's sister lives?"

"Who wants to know?"

"A friend."

"I don't have any," the little woman moved the gun down to Goten's neck.

"Look, uh, Miss-" He started.

"Frye!" She shouted.

"As in Abel Frye?"

"What's it to you?!"

"Will you tell me about the kid who hurt so much he died to stop it?"

That seemed to hit the woman hard, because she lowered her gun.

-------

The old boiler room was dusty and smelled funny. Trunks pointed his flashlight to another door. As he made his way to it, he looked around the room. The old boiler was in the middle of the room and some of its pipes ran down into the floor, walls, and ceiling.

-------

A pot on the oven whistled. Miss Frye, Abel Frye's sister, picked it up and poured some tea in two cups. One for her and one for Goten.

"It was enough that they beat him up when he was alive..." She said as she set the cups on the table and sat down. "But to keep all those horrible lies going... he never murdered Martha Ead. The poor thing died of Meningitis. She was the only friend he had at that school."

There was a moment of silence before she continued. "Abel's mother, my step-Mom, ran off with some truck driver. After that, our Dad drank himself to death. Abel came to live with me and my family..." her voice trailed off and she grabbed a picture.

A tall thin boy was smiling happily and had his arm around another smaller boy's shoulders.

"Does this look like a murderer to you?" She asked. "He was sweet. We all loved my brother. We thought everybody did."

: : Flash back : :

Abel was walking down the hall when two bullies began to shove him back and forth. Then, they knocked his books out of his hands. When he was walking home from school, a few more bullies began throwing eggs at him.

"There are those who want to see blood." Miss Frye said. "Who live to dish out pain and torment..."

: : End flash back : :

"I hope the rot for what they did to my brother... and to my... my family..." she said.

-------

Trunks was walking down some stairs when he saw another doorway ahead. He walked through it, but came to a dead end. Something on the right wall didn't look right. He walked up to it and found another door. He opened it and continued to walk. The boy made his way to the next room and saw large pipes running along into the wall. One pipe had been pushed back to reveal a hole large enough for him to fit through. He crawled in and along the passage.

"Whoa..." he said as he jumped out.

He walked to the next room and saw a huge white star in a square painted on the floor. Ahead of it was a crude altar with an old black blanket over it. Above the alter was the name EYRF LEBA. Abel Frye spelt backwards. Just above the name and was painted on the wall was a white hangman in a white circle. What looked like blood had dried up on the hangman. Pictures of the victims surrounded it.

The boy walked over to some costumes and lifted up on mask. It was an ugly green mask with a hooded robe. There was nothing there, so he let it drop back down. He did the same for the next costume. Nothing there either. He walked by the rest. One was bigger and uglier than the others. Must've been for the leader. He ignored it and looked at something in a corner. He turned to leave, but something grabbed him and pulled him to the floor.

"Aaaahhhh!" The person yelled as Trunks bit his arm. It was the only thing he could think to do at a time like this.

As the half-Saiyan began to run, he looked back and saw somebody in the leader's costume. It was one he hadn't checked! The boy ran down a hall. He normally wouldn't run, but things weren't normal. He was scared. The person in the costume caught the boy. Trunks slammed him up against the wall and kicked his stomach.

Trunks ran back to that hole in the wall and crawled through. He jumped out and ran through the door. He looked back and bumped into somebody. That caused him to shout.

"Whoa! Whoa!" It was Goten! "What's wrong?"

"Lets get outta here!"

The two boys ran back out of the school.

-------

"It's right here. The Witches Nest," Trunks said. This time, he brought Stephanie and Goten with him. He walked to where the hole in the wall had been before, but it wasn't there any more. "I remember this pipe... Maybe it was this one... or... Well, Goten saw it."

"Sorry," he said. "All I saw was you haulin' outta here."

Stephanie shook her head. "All right, you two are off the case."

"No!" Trunks shouted. "These kids need us! Norman! Ian! Look, we just want to do this right."

"We were right to follow up on things nobody has time for," Goten said.

"Trust me, I'll make time for Ian Snyder," she said.

"You need us!" He said. "We know Ian. We know the other kids."

"Fine, you two can stay," she said.

The two boys smiled as they made their way back outside.

-------

A/N: So sorry to make this such a long chapter. I really didn't mean to. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy it. Please review.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I'm back again! Yay! Thanks for the reviews to the last chapter. I'm glad you liked it even though it was kind'a long. No, really long. I didn't mean to make it that long, but like DH88 said, "a long chapter is better than no chapter". So, R&R!

Disclaimer: I will own DB/Z/GT, Hangman's Curse, and the opening song... I will own DB/Z/GT, Hangman's Curse, and the opening song... I will (ahem) Huh? (looks up to see lawyers surrounding her) I mean, I don't own DB/Z/GT, Hangman's Curse, or the opening song! I do own Stephanie, though. (lawyers suddenly start melting into the floor) Weird... o.0

Note: I'm not sure if these lyrics are right, but I think they are. They're from a song on "Freaky Friday". I don't own that movie or the song (I already said that in the disclaimer!).

Chapter 6.

* * *

Don't wanna get old, I wanna get out.

Please, take me away.

I wanna shout out.

Take me away, away, away, away

* * *

It was the next morning. Students were at the school and getting ready for their first period classes. All but one...

"What's the matter? You guys don't believe in ghosts?" Ian asked.

He was in the principle's office and Dan Carrillo, the police officer the school had hired for this mystery, was asking him a few questions based off the information Stephanie had given him

"We're not talkin' about Abel Frye here, we're talkin' about you," Dan said.

"Well, I ain't got nothin' to say, so talk to Abel," Ian said.

"That was Trunks you attacked last night in your little chamber," the officer said.

"What?" Ian exclaimed. "It wasn't me!"

"So where's this chamber of yours?" The officer asked. The Gothic boy looked away, so the officer continued. "Don't worry. We'll find it."

The Goth rolled his eyes and looked away.

"Let me see your arms," Dan said. Remember Trunks bit somebody's arm in the chamber last night? "I said let me see your arms."

Ian obeyed and the officer pushed up the sleeves of the boy's black coat. The boy's arms were very pale, but there were no bite marks. Dan checked both arms, but wasn't finished when the principle said, "The will be enough. Ian, get to class."

The Gothic boy pushed his sleeves back down, stood up, and walked to the door. He opened it and whispered, "Trunks, huh?" He glanced back at everybody then shut the door behind him.

"Did you check the others?" Stephanie asked after Ian had left.

"Yep. I think your brother made a mistake," Dan said.

"My brother wouldn't lie to me," she said.

"Your brother is no different than any other kid in this school," the officer said.

Stephanie gave him a slight glare before she left the room.

* * *

"Con du tuc anary toona," the leader of the witches chanted. The other four people repeated what he just said as they all spun around the huge white star. They all knelt down. Each at one point of the star.

The leader lifted up his staff and chanted something else. The other four repeated what he said as they lifted up their staffs and put the tips together.

* * *

Norman pulled a dollar out of his pant pocket and put in in a soda machine. He pushed a button, but nothing came out. He punched it a few times, but nothing happened. He noticed Trunks walking by, so he said, "Hey, Trunks, do you have change for a dollar? The machine's broken again."

"Uh, yeah," Trunks said as he pulled out four quarters.

"Thanks," Norman said as he gave Trunks the dollar. The half-Saiyan put the dollar in his coat pocket as Norman put in the money and got a soda.

* * *

Trunks opened his locker and put his jacket in there. He was reaching for some books when Crystal quickly walked up to her locker and opened it. The boy looked over at her and noticed she was a bit wet and looked very upset. So, he walked over to her and said, "Crystal? Crystal, what's wrong?"

"One of your friends dumped a soda over my head," she said. "Pretty funny, huh?"

"I am so sorry," Trunks said as he thought of a way to help her.

"I'll bet you are," she said.

Trunks quickly walked back to his locker and grabbed his jacket. He walked back to the girl and threw it around her shoulders while saying, "Here, take my jacket. _Have_ my jacket."

Crystal was about to take it off when the boy said, "No, take it. It's a start."

The girl slammed her locker shut and ran off down the hall. Trunks walked back to his locker and shut it. What he failed to notice was a picture of the hangman etched on one side of his locker.

* * *

Crystal walked up to the soda machine Norman had been at earlier and leaned against it. She couldn't understand why Trunks was being so nice to her. She was different and nobody liked her or the other Goths. This was so confusing.

She looked up at the soda machine and reached into her pocket. She had no money to buy a soda. The girl looked down at Trunks' jacket and reached into his pocket. She found the dollar Norman had given him earlier, so she smoothed it down a bit and stuck it in the machine.

* * *

"Well, I've identified what was in the straw," Dr. Algernon said as he turned to face Bulma. "It's a Brown Recluse spider. A male."

"But they're very poiseness!" Bulma exclaimed. "Could that be...?"

"No," he said. "The symptoms of a Brown Recluse are more flu like. Not neuralgic."

"Hey, maybe we could air flush the straw that was in Blake's locker!" She suggested.

"It was in there for who-knows-how-long. I don't think we'll be able to get a sample to read in the machine," he said.

"Wait," Bulma said as she grabbed some money. "Cassie also reacted to this! Maybe we could get a reading from this!"

"Heh heh. That, we might!"

* * *

A few students decided not to go to the school play, so they lingered outside the auditorium doors. The school play was called "Curse of the Hangman", so I'll bet you can probably figure out what it's about.

Anyway, most of the students were watching the play. It had began thirty minutes ago, so it was almost halfway through. All of the actors up on the stage wore black hooded outfits and were spinning around and doing some sort of crazy dance.

"Hey," Goten whispered as he sat down one row behind the Goths.

Ian looked back at the half-Saiyan, stood up, and motioned for all the other Goths to move down a few seats. After every Gothic kid but Crystal had moved, Ian looked back at her and said, "Crystal, c'mon."

When she didn't come, Ian began to get a bit worried, so he moved back to his original seat.

"Hey, you ok?" He asked quietly.

She didn't answer but continued looking down at her notebook and continued to slide her pencil off her paper at the same spot. Suddenly, she slammed her notebook shut and dropped her pencil. Panic spread across her face. She looked like a wild animal in a cage.

"Ah!" She shouted. "Oh no!"

Up on the stage stood a ragged figure washed pale by the stage lights. Abel Frye stood up on one of the props. A rope was tied tightly around his neck. His hand was out stretched towards Crystal and rotting flesh hung from his face and hand. He looked at her with his horrible hollow eyes and then grinned that awful smile.

"Ian!" Crystal screamed. "Ian, it's terrible!"

Ian tried to calm down the thrashing girl, but wasn't having any luck. He stood up and grabbed her arms, but she started clawing at his jacket. The boy lifted her by her arms and laid her down on the floor.

"Play's over!" The director shouted as she urged the curious students off the stage.

The school's nurse hurried over to Crystal as other students gathered around. The girl slowly began to calm down. The nurse held the girl's head. Crystal made a sickening gurgle sound and was quiet. She didn't move or make another sound.

"No, no, please. Not her!" Ian watched the nurse tilt Crystal's head to one side. The boy pulled his hand out from under her head and stood up. He turned towards the stage and shouted, "Why her? She's all I got!"

Goten wished he could do something to comfort Ian, but couldn't think of anything to do or say that would help.

* * *

"Why would they curse one of their own?" Trunks asked as he watched Stephanie and Cassie search Crystal's locker.

"I don't know," Stephanie said as she closed the locker. "Anyway, there's no straw."

"Look, I don't get it," the boy said.

"Maybe it was intended for Blake, but it backfired," she said. "I don't know. But I have to get these kids to the auditorium. You meet me there, understand?"

"Yeah," Trunks said as he opened his locker. Just then, he remembered something he needed to ask his sister something. He slammed his locker shut and ran up the stairs she had gone. "Wait, Steph. Steph!"

He made it to the top of the stairs, but didn't see her. He looked around for a few seconds then sighed in frustration and leaned against the wall next to an air vent. He was about to search for her life force, but heard something clang inside the vent. He looked inside of it, but couldn't see anything, so he ran off in search of something.

* * *

Goten was seated in the same place he had been during the play. He had a pretty good view of the students and knew who all had come in, but he didn't see Ian anywhere. Every one knew he was upset by what happened, but almost all of them just didn't care.

The poor guy... Goten thought. _Maybe I could find him._

With that, the half-Saiyan got up and left the room.

* * *

"Abel, face me!" Ian said. He was standing on a prop that was on the stage. It was the tallest one and it was used in the play. Another thing was that it had a rope tied to a wooden pole that was tall and thick. "I need to talk to you. We need to work things out."

"No, he's not the one you need."

Ian turned to see Goten walking up to the base of the prop. The Gothic boy ignored him and shouted, "Answer me!"

"You don't know who you're really calling," the half-Saiyan said. "So how can you do this?"

"The curse came back on Crystal!" Ian shouted. "I have to get to Abel and make him reverse it."

"You think a stupid ghost did this?" Goten asked as he started to climb up the prop. "Is that what you think?"

The other boy stomped Goten's hand and the half-Saiyan let go.

Man! Do those boots of his have spikes? Goten shook of the pain and said, "Oh that's what you think. You think _stupid_ ghost did this. That's not what happened!"

Ian kicked the half-Saiyan's throat and the boy stumbled back a few steps. Goten held his throat for a few seconds and watched Ian pull the rope around his neck.

"Abel Frye!" The Gothic boy called again.

"No, don't do it, Ian," Goten said quietly, hoping the other boy would hear.

"Take me. Don't take her, just take _me_!" The Goth boy said.

Suddenly the stage curtains opened. The kids and teachers jumped to their feet and started shouting. Some were shouting for him to jump, while others were shouting for him not to jump.

"Don't look at 'em, Ian," Goten said. "Look at me. Don't do it."

Ian wasn't listening. He was staring out at the crowd. Kids began to jump and shout even louder.

"No, Ian, please!" The half-Saiyan begged. He turned around and looked out at the crowd.

Memories began to flood Ian's mind. He remembered Crystal, how Leonard took his money, that day in gym class, marking lockers with the hangman, Leonard and Blake bullying him and Crystal, and how she got frustrated after that. The boy could barely hear Goten or the crowd. Finally, he snapped back to reality.

Out of the corner of his eye, Goten saw Stephanie and the principle. They both had their eyes fixed on Ian.

"Please don't jump," Goten begged.

Ian didn't listen. He looked down for a second, then stepped off the edge.

"No!!" The half-Saiyan shouted.

Stephanie and the principle rushed over to the boys just as the rope tightened and wouldn't let Ian drop any further. The principle shouted instructions as the two half-Saiyans struggled to push the boy back up. It was harder since no one was up on the prop to pull the Gothic boy back up. That problem was soon fixed, though. Stephanie climbed onto the prop and pulled Ian the rest of the way up.

The trio sighed in relief, knowing that Ian didn't hang himself.

* * *

Trunks rushed back to the air vent and looked around. Nobody was there, so he yanked the vent's cover off and shone a flashlight in it. There was nothing more then a bunch of dust and old spider webs. He sighed and turned off the flashlight. Next, he began to pull on a protective suit that he had borrowed from the janitor.

* * *

A/N: Yeah, I know its another long chapter, but I really like this one! (coughilikeiancough) So, now you know. But anyway, please tell me if there is anything separating the sections. I had trouble with that when I wrote the last chapter to Knights In Shinning Armor. If there isn't anything separating the sections, please tell me how to fix it. Thanks!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Oh man. It's been forever since I've updated this...literally! Lol. Sorry to take so long, but hopefully I'll be back to updating this again. I've been waaaaaaay too caught up in "Be Strong", so will you guys forgive me? I hope...I know I probably don't deserve it, but please? Thanks. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I'll never own DB/Z/GT or "Why Not" by Hilary Duff...as much as I want too, but I don't. I do own Stephanie and Cassie, though.

Chapter 7

-------

Why not?  
Take a crazy chance?  
Why not?  
Do a crazy dance?

-------

Bulma and Algernon were anxiously waiting for the machine to finish sniffing the money. It was one of those times when things never hurry when you want them to. Finally the slow, little machine beeped a few times. Algernon quickly jumped out of his chair, knocking it over in the process, and rushed to the computer.

"0-279-9..." the professor mumbled to himself as he hurriedly pushed the keys. "Pheromone from..."

Bulma glanced over his shoulder as a screen popped up with a picture of an ugly spider. It was way too detailed for it's own good. Millions of tiny black and yellow hairs made it look fuzzy and you could almost count its every eye.

"I'm worried," Algernon stated plainly. "I'm worried!"

"What?" Bulma asked as the professor jumped from the chair and hurried by. "What's wrong?"

"It's an African Wolf spider from Kenya," he whirled around to face her. The look on his face was _not_ good. "I should have known it all along! It-"

"Algernon!" Bulma shouted and brought him back to reality.

"Huh?"

"What is it!"

"It-it's an old tribal war tactic," he stuttered as he tried to explain. "You give your enemy a gift, but you lace it with pheromone."

"The money..." Things began to come together for the blue haired genius.

"Exactly!" He said as he grabbed a clear tube and a small plastic spider. "Then you plant the spider near the victim."

"The soda straws!" She exclaimed.

"Right!" He grabbed up two cotton balls and shoved one in the end of the tube. "It's very simple. You plug one end of the straw with a piece of sugar, put the spider in, and plug the other end of the straw with more sugar. Then, the spider smells the pheromone, so he eats his way through the sugar in search of the female. And when he doesn't find her, he gets very very angry and he bites ya!"

"So...that means the triconal would be a control device, right? The spider dies before he can bite anybody else?"

"Right!" The professor seemed pleased that she understood. "It's all very nice and neat. And the bite is undetectable."

"But Crystal got sick within hours. Is the poison becoming more potent or what?"

"No, who ever did this put a female African Wolf in the straw. That's where the pheromone came from. She was spraying her scent all over the inside of the straw trying to attract a male. What she got was a Brown Recluse. They meet, they mated, she ate him," he looked a bit disgusted, but continued anyway. "Then, she crawled into the walls and had babies. They get bigger with every generation, so by now there could be thousands! No, more than thousands!"

"Oh man..." Bulma sank into a nearby chair and rubbed her forehead.

-------

Trunks had his protective suit on and was ready to begin exploring. He floated up to the mouth of the vent and slid in. He looked around, but there was only a bunch of dust and old spider webs. Nothing out of the ordinary. The boy was about to back out when he heard another clang. He furrowed his brow. There was something back there and he was going to find it!

"Lets go," the half-Saiyan told himself as he slid in further.

-------

"I don't know what got a hold of me up there, man," Ian said to Goten. The two were sitting on the floor back stage.

"Or _who_ got a hold of you," Goten said quietly as he nudged the other boy's arm a bit.

"Yeah..." Ian said. "It was just like...Abel was just callin' me, ya know?"

"Still trust that spirit of yours?" Goten asked, but the other boy wouldn't answer. The half-Saiyan looked up at Stephanie who was leaning against a nearby wall. She gave him an approving smile.

The principal's walkie-talkie squawked a few times. She said something back then said to no one in particular, "All right. The buses are here. Let's get these kids outta here."

Stephanie was about to agree when the cell phone she had been carrying around for the past few days rang.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Stephanie? Oh, Steph!" Came a familiar, yet frantic, voice.

"Mom?" She asked. "What's wrong?"

"Algernon and I have figured out what's goin' on," she said quickly. "It's spiders! Some hybrid that's been breeding inside the walls!"

"What..?" Stephanie asked to make sure she heard right. "Spiders?"

"Yes, you haft'a get everybody outta there!"

Stephanie slowly hung up as her brain tried to register what her Mom had just told her. She looked around at the principal, Ian and Goten. She opened her mouth to speak and hoped that her voice wouldn't come out as a squeak. It didn't. "We need Cassie. Where is she?

"Cassie?" Mrs. Werthing asked.

"My dog," the half-Saiyan girl said.

"Animals aren't allowed in this school!"

"It's an emergency!"

This caused Goten and Ian to look up at her.

-------

Trunks was making his way down the air vent when he spotted the bottom. It had a cover over it, so he yanked it off. He wasn't prepared for what he saw next. Thousands of tiny spiders were crawling all over the fans and walls.

"What the..." Trunks stared down at the moving walls.

A few spiders started crawling out of the new opening. Trunks tried to push the bent metal lid back in place, but it wouldn't go back on right. He sure didn't want to shoot an energy blast at the spiders because he'd probably blow up half the school. So he did the only thing he could do with out blowing up the school. He began flying up the vent (1). The half-Saiyan missed his exit, so he continued flying.

The top was getting closer and closer, but something didn't look right about it. It was a door! The boy opened it and flew through the opening. He took off his helmet as he closed the door.

The room was slightly damp and very dusty. It probably hadn't been used for years. A few dim light bulbs were scattered around on the ceiling, but didn't produce much light.

"Where am I?" Trunks quietly asked himself.

-------

"Ok," Stephanie said to Mrs. Werthing, the police, and the school nurse. "Is it possible to get the students out of here and search for spiders too?"

"Of course," Dan Carrillo, the policeman said. "That's my job. I just don't see how we're gonna find what we can't see."

Stephanie glanced down at her dog Cassie. The girl had made a quick run to Capsule Corp to get her.

"It's a good thing I'm here, isn't it?" Stephanie looked back at the small group.

They looked back at her with a confused look on their faces. The half-Saiyan girl smiled and said, "We're gonna sniff it out."

-------

**A/N:** Ok, so you probably saw that (1) up there, right? Well, here's some explanation: The reason Trunks was flying from the spiders instead of trying to kill 'em is 'cause his safety suit has a hole in it. I think I forgot to mention that. Sorry. And the spiders are very poisonous so if too many got into his suit, they could kill him or at least knock him out. So yeah. (sigh) I'm getting out of the mood for this story, but I'm gonna finish it at least...Be nice in your reviews, guys! Thanks.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: I'm finally updating it! Yes, I know probably no one is going to read it after such a long wait, but it makes me feel better that I haven't stopped on it...yet. I'm gonna finish it eventually. Whenever I remember the rest of the lines...Ah well! On to the story! Oh, this might be a long chapter, but we'll see.

Disclaimer: Never have owned Hangman's Curse or DB/Z/GT and unfortunately never will. And I don't own Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day either.

Chapter 8

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_My shadow's the only one that walks beside me_

_My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating_

_Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me_

'_Til then I walk alone_

_-------_

Trunks looked around the room he now found himself in. A tall, wooden platform stood in the middle of the room with a thick, wooden pole attached to it. A rope was tied onto the end of the pole, which hung over the side of the platform. The boy continued looking around the dusty room. It looked as if it hadn't been used for years and even if it had been used, it was probably only for storage.

"Abel Frye..." he whispered to himself as he continued looking around.

-------

Bulma dashed back out to her hover car after retrieving her digital recorder from Capsule Corp. She jumped in the car and laid the recorder beside her. Suddenly her phone rang and startled her.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Bulma, you need to get to the hospital and get them to draw blood from Crystal," Algernon explained quickly, excitement visible in his voice. "Then get them to make a medicine to counter the spider's poison."

"I'm on it," she replied quickly. "Meet me at the school."

Bulma closed her cell phone and tossed it onto the seat next to her. It hit the digital recorder, causing it to play.

"Trunks Brief..." it played, sounding extremely fuzzy. The woman froze, her eyes wide. She looked down at the recorder. "Trunks Brief..."

-------

Trunks gulped as he slowly walked by containers full of spiders. He had never been the biggest fan of spiders. He examined each large, hairy one with a shudder and decided to move on. The boy hurriedly turned a corner, still looking back. When he turned his head, he came face to face with an even bigger spider than before.

-------

"Some on set us up!" Ian exclaimed hopelessly. He, Stephanie, Goten, Trevor, and Carl, two of Goten's friends, sat outside together. Stephanie had handed Cassie over to another teacher so the girl could rest for a few minutes. "Told us this whole ghost story...We're decoys..."

The rest of the group was silent. Each knew it was the truth, but still nobody replied. Finally, after a long silence, Ian spoke up, "Look, Stephanie, I have a lot of apologizing to do, and I need to start with you."

"Hey, it's ok, Ian," the half-Saiyan girl replied with a smile. Hopefully he was heading in the right direction. "At least you know the truth."

"Yeah," Goten added. "No need to beat yourself up over it."

"No, you don't understand," Ian looked up into Stephanie's blue eyes. "I cursed Trunks. I marked his locker with a hangman..."

"You...what...?" The girl asked, trying not to sound too harsh, but couldn't help it.

The gothic boy looked down at the pavement and rubbed the back of his head.

"He's been through a lot," Goten whispered to the girl. "I'm sure Trunks is fine."

"I know. I'm sorry," she quickly said as she held a hand to her head. "I was just shocked, that's-" her cell phone rang. The girl dug it out of her pocket and flipped it open. "Hello?"

"Steph!" Came Bulma's frantic voice over the phone. "Trunks has been cursed! He could be dosed with pheromone!"

"I know, Mom," the girl replied. "Ian just told me."

"Vegeta and I will be down there in a minute."

"Ok. Bye," Stephanie shoved her phone back into her pocket and stared off into the distance for a moment, not believing this was truly happening.

Goten stood and looked at the group sitting around him. Ian looked troubled and truly guilty, Stephanie was still in a daze, and Carl and Trevor looked relieved about escaping from the school without any spider bites. "Look, who started all this Abel Frye stuff?"

Trevor looked away, Ian continued looking down at his boots and rubbing the back of his head, and Carl said, "Don't look at me. I wouldn't hurt a fly."

Right then, something clicked for Goten.

: Flash back :

"He wouldn't hurt a fly..." Miss Frye had told him. "I hope they rot for what they did to my brother...and to...to my family..."

The half-Saiyan had remembered seeing a picture of the happy boy that was once Abel Frye. It hurt him to think some one was tormented so much they killed themselves.

: End flash back :

"Family..." Goten whispered to himself. "Of course!"

"What?" Stephanie looked up at the boy, still looking pretty dazed.

"Go find Trunks," was all the boy said before he ran off.

-------

Goten quickly turned on a computer and allowed it a few seconds to boot up. He gave the room a quick glance before returning his gaze to the machine before him. Finally, it was ready.

"Ok," the boy muttered to himself as he typed something into it. "Who else lives at 2500 Dunce Abel Street?" He looked at the screen as the computer loaded the page. "What?"

What he saw before him surprised him, but he didn't have any time to think about it. A spider dropped down onto his hand.

-------

Trunks stared into the spider's beady eyes for a moment before he shuddered and moved on. He looked along a dividing wall and saw several TVs lined up. Most of them showed empty halls while some showed students lingering in the school parking lot.

"You again?"

Trunks jumped slightly before realizing whose voice it was. He turned to face the boy behind him. "Norman."

"I set up some cameras and tapped into the security system," he said as he motioned towards the TVs Trunks still stood in front of. "It feels so great to see the bad guys scared for once."

"I know how it feels to be scared," Trunks paused, remembering the night he was in the witching chamber by himself. "By you."

"No..." Norman slowly shook his head, almost in pity. "You didn't deserve it, but you, Goten, and Stephanie were getting too close. That's why I lured you into the witching chamber last night. You left me no choice."

"What do you think you're doing, Norman?" Trunks questioned the boy as he edged around a large wooden table littered with papers.

"No, don't start telling me this is wrong," he said before the half-Saiyan could say anything further. "It's not wrong. It's justified. Kramers, Anderson, Boltz, Banes...they deserved it. They tore me apart everyday and laughed about it! Do you have any idea what it's like? Having your insides torn out while everybody's watching and laughing..."

Trunks wanted to say how well he knew the feeling, but instead mumbled, "I see it, Norman. I know what you're talking about."

"You just want to beat 'em up and beat 'em up and beat 'em up," he continued as if the other boy hadn't said a word. He glanced down at the spider container he now held and quickly added, "But I scared them! They're not laughing anymore!"

"No, they're not," Trunks allowed as he backed around another corner of the table, not wanting to get too close to the boy before him.

"I had to survive, right?" Norman asked as he pointed behind him and shouted, "My uncle didn't! They killed him! And they would have killed me too if I hadn't bought my life with a few fifty dollar bills. And it was worth every penny."

He was getting closer to Trunks, even though the half-Saiyan kept backing around the table. The lavender haired boy quickly asked, "Do Ian and the witches know about this?"

"No..." Noman shook his head and stopped following the boy for a moment. "I provide the toxic shock and they provide the hysteria to make the victim think he's seen a ghost. I prevailed over the weak minded. Survival of the fittest."

-------

Stephanie rushed down the empty hall of the school when she saw Trunks' backpack lying beside an open vent. The girl peered into the vent, mouth open. She slammed her fist into the wall, causing a large hole to appear.

"Trunks!" She shouted as loud as she could. "Trunks!"

-------

"I don't understand, Norman," Trunks glared at the boy as his sister's calls reached his ears.

"I didn't expect you to understand," the boy pulled a knife out of its case. It glistened coldly in the dim light, almost mocking Trunks. "I don't need you to understand. I don't want you to understand. The more we talk, the more you know. And you know just..." he paused as he searched for the word, "everything! It didn't work."

"What didn't work?" Trunks asked, trying to buy even a few more seconds for the kids to get out of the school.

"I gave you the dollar and you turned around and gave it to Crystal, you remember?" He asked, shaking the knife dangerously. "Trunks, God must really be lookin' out for you. This will be my third try."

The half-Saiyan boy kicked the table over and made a dash to the vent he came up through. He didn't want to hurt Norman if he didn't have to. The boy made it to the vent, but Norman rushed up to him and the half-Saiyan tripped the other boy.

Trunks hesitated for a moment, making sure the boy hadn't cut himself badly. When Norman slowly began getting up, the half-Saiyan shoved on his safety helmet and yanked open the vent. He jumped into the opening and quickly closed the vent after him before slowly floating down the opening. He could hear his sister's cries and attempted to hurry, but a large object fell on his head and startled him. The boy fell, but grabbed onto the vent his sister was at.

"Trunks!" The black haired girl cried as she hoisted her upper half into the vent and reached for him. "Grab on!"

The half-Saiyan boy slowly extended his hand towards her, but the vent collapsed from their weight. The boy let out a yell as he began to drop. He hit his head hard on the inside of the vent and everything went black. He fell through the fan at the bottom and landed hard on the cement floor of the witching chamber.

"Trunks!" Stephanie's calls fell upon deaf ears, but she continued calling out to him. "Trunks!"

The girl could hear footsteps coming from down the hall. She turned to see Goten running up to her. He gave her a confused look.

"The vent collapsed," she quickly explained, looking back at it with anger in her eyes. "If I blast it, the wall will collapse. We gotta find another way in."

Goten peered into the vent as if making sure there was no hope. The boy grabbed her hand and began to quickly lead her down the hall, only saying, "C'mon."

-------

**A/N:** So, the way I see it, probably not many people are going to be reviewing. I wish you guys would! But if you don't, that's ok. I'm writing it for anybody who will read it. As long as there's readers, I'll keep on writing--whether there are reviewers or not. But anyway, there probably aren't going to be many more chapters. I'm thinkin' two. At the most. Enjoy the rest of the story (whenever I get it up!)


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Gasp!!! I actually have reviewers even though I haven't updated this thing in like forever! Thank you guys soooooooooooooooooooo much! It makes me so happy to know people are still reading this. Just so you know, the last chapter wasn't as short as I expected it to be, but this one will probably be kind of short, so don't blame me. I'm only the writer. Yeah, well, here's the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I still don't own DB/Z/GT or Hangman's Curse or Rush by Aly & AJ BUT! That's right, BUT! I own Stephanie! Hahahahaha! Ok, I'm done.

Chapter 9

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_Don't let nobody tell you when your life is over_

_Be every color that you are_

_Into the rush now you don't have to know how_

_Know it all before you try_

-------

Trunks moaned to himself as he slowly regained consciousness. His eyes slowly opened and he squinted into the faint light above him. He could barely remember the fall. All he knew now was that he was in pain.

The boy slowly glanced around the witching chamber, his vision blurring slightly. He blinked a couple times before looking back up, only to see that the faint light above him was blocked by a large, hairy spider. The half-Saiyan yelped and lifted his gloved hand to swat it away, but it too was covered in spiders. He shouted again and attempted to get up, but a stabbing pain shot through his leg. The boy screamed out in pain and grabbed his leg the best he could. He opened his eyes and saw Norman slowly making his way through the many spiders surrounding them. What surprised the boy most of all was that the spiders was quickly scurrying out of Norman's way as he walked. The half-Saiyan glared feebly at the boy that now stood beside him.

"It went wrong," Norman said, no compassion in his voice. "I didn't plan on having all these hybrids. A blessing and a curse..." the boy turned to the stand behind him and placed a spider carrier on it.

"They're not bothering you," Trunks said, wincing in pain.

"I'm covered in male pheromone," he explained casually as he messed with something in front of him. "It keeps the males away and the females don't care."

"You don't have any more of that around, do you?" Trunks asked sarcastically, already knowing the answer.

"No," Norman replied as he knelt next to the half-Saiyan boy. He pulled the knife forward and said, "I never killed _anybody_!" The boy cut an even bigger hole in Trunks' suit and the half-Saiyan shouted as he tried to swat the knife away. "Have fun, Trunks, for the rest of you life."

Trunks glared at the boy as he felt the first spider crawl into his suit. Then, Norman picked up the spider out of the case he brought. He slowly unbuttoned the front of his shirt and paused as if wondering if he should go through with it. The half-Saiyan watched from the floor, but did not speak as Norman placed the spider near his neck. Suddenly, Norman's face became blank and he fell to the floor with a thud.

Trunks smirked to himself as his gaze returned to the ceiling. If he was going to go, he wanted Norman to go too. Suddenly, the boy winced in pain as he felt the first spider bite him.

-------

Goten banged a large pipe away from an air vent and he and Stephanie peered into the opening. It was dark and smelled damp, but they could see the outline of the other end. The two could sense Trunks' energy slowly fading. Time was running short.

"Let me go first," Goten said in almost an ordering tone.

Stephanie didn't argue. The girl stepped back quickly and allowed the boy to crawl through the opening first. She quickly followed him through the small tunnel; neither wore safety suits, both only wanting to save Trunks. Goten jumped out of the tunnel and reached back for the other half-Saiyan. She grabbed his hand and jumped to the floor.

The two were now in a large, dark room. A light shone dimly around the corner. The two half-Saiyans made a dash to it, both feeling Trunks' energy fading more and more. There was no time to lose.

After they had made it out of the dark room, they came upon a hall leading both ways. The two paused, but only for a second.

"That way," Stephanie pointed to the right, positive of the way they were about to take.

Goten, leading the way, ran down the hall with the girl close behind. Suddenly, they heard Trunks yell and they picked up their pace. Soon, they were in the witching chamber, staring in horror at Trunks who lay in the middle of the room, covered in spiders.

"Trunks!" Stephanie screamed as she flew over to her brother. She glanced at all the spiders covering him and shook her head.

"Trunks!" Goten cried as he appeared beside his best friend. Stephanie began shooting the many spiders off the boy. "Wake up!"

"Everything's gonna be ok, just hold on," Steph whispered through tears as she shot one of the last remaining spiders away.

Trunks' eyes were glazed as he continued staring up at the ceiling. Goten gently shook the boy, but the only response he got was the other half-Saiyan managing to glance over at him. The boy's eyes moved to his sister, who had finished shooting the spiders away. A small smile touched his lips as his eyes slowly rolled back into his head, and then they closed.

"Come on! Hang on, Trunks!" Stephanie cried, tears streaming down her cheeks as she shook him gently. "Hang on."

"Trunks..." Goten whispered, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to escape. The boy quickly blinked them away and lifted his friend.

This time, Stephanie led the way over to a feeble looking wall. She raised her right hand and shot an energy blast at the wall, not caring who saw. All that was on her mind was that they had to get her brother to a safe place.

The two quickly floated over the rubble and landed before rushing out into the crowd that was staring at the broken wall. They hurried to the awaiting paramedics and placed the boy on a stretcher. Bulma pushed her way through the crowd and gasped at the sight of her son.

"No, Trunks!" Her breath caught in her throat. She shook her head in disbelief as the paramedics began to strip the boy of his safety suit.

Stephanie backed away from her brother and approached her mother. The blue haired woman grabbed her daughter in a tight embrace.

"I'm so glad you're ok," she managed to say through sobs. "Thank you so much for getting Trunks out here."

The half-Saiyan could only nod through the tears that had not stopped flowing ever since she found her brother. She grabbed her mother in a gentle hug, careful not to hurt her, as she continued sobbing.

Goten had found his way to his mother who was also giving her son a tight embrace, thankful that he had made it out safely. The boy hugged her back and watched the paramedics with the corner of his eye.

Goku and Vegeta stood off to the side. Goku clearly expressed his concern for the boy, but Vegeta was attempting not to let any emotions show through that would make him appear weak.

The paramedics quickly placed an air mask on Trunks' face after finally removing all the spiders that had crawled inside his suit. They began pushing on his chest in an attempt to help him breath. His breaths were coming in short almost painful bursts.

More people began to surround the once small group of family and friends. Soon it grew to a large crowd; all hoping Trunks would live, even though many did not know him.

Suddenly, Algernon burst through the crowd, carrying something in one hand. He hurried to a nearby paramedic and thrust the item into his hand.

"Here it is, the modified anti-venom," he stepped back as the man quickly made his way one of the others. He said something to the other man and the medicine was passed.

The man that now held the medicine quickly put some into a shot and squirted just a little to make sure it would come out. One of the other men removed the air mask and the one with the shot quickly approached. He injected it swiftly and stepped back.

Every one watched with hopes that the boy would soon open his eyes. But Trunks didn't move.

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**A/N: **Alrighty then! I'm not sure how much of a cliffhanger this is. It would probably be a major one if you guys haven't seen the movie or read the book, but if you have then...well...you never know when I might redo the ending! Heehee. If you want to know if Trunks lives or not, please review!


	10. Epilogue

A/N: And, so I've got all my homework for tomorrow done and I started thinking "I really need to update something…" So I decided to update this so you guys would know whether Trunks lives or not! And, so, here you go!

Disclaimer: In all these ten chapters I've told you I don't own Hangman's Curse or DB/Z/GT, but you still don't believe me! I'm so insulted… Well, I don't own Sanctuary by Utada Hikaru either, but I DO own Stephanie and Cassie.

Chapter 10

Epilogue

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_My sanctuary, my sanctuary now_

_Where fears and lies melt away_

_Music inside_

_My sanctuary, my sanctuary now_

-------

A soft breeze gently blew the green, summer leaves in the trees, causing them to rustle peacefully against one another. The sun shone down brightly on the green earth, warming it to a comfortable temperature. Children laughed as they chased one another around in circles while mothers watched them carefully. Dogs barked at one another as they and their owners strolled along the park's paths.

It was the perfect day to have a picnic, which is exactly what the Briefs and the Sons were doing. Chichi, being the better cook, was flipping one of the last hamburgers onto a large plate while Bulma prepared the red, plastic cups and buns. The black haired woman flipped the last hamburger onto the plate and strolled over to her friend, hamburgers in hand.

"Alright, here they are," Chichi carefully set them onto the cleared off spot of the picnic table.

"Smells good!" Bulma replied with a sniff as she scooped some more ice into a cup. She glanced back at the plate and frowned. "Do you really think that's enough?"

"I've got more over there," the other woman replied as she motioned behind her. "Got everything we need?"

"I think so…" the blue haired genius scanned the crowded picnic table as she made her way to Algernon. She grinned and shook her head as the man dropped bread crumbs onto the ground. "Am I feeding you or the ants?"

"No, not just ants, Bulma!" He explained with a chuckle and called them their scientific name.

"Fire ants, Mom," came a familiar voice. Bulma looked up to see her lavender haired son strolling up to the two, a large grin spread across his face. The woman smiled lovingly at her son, still amazed at how close this healthy, young man came to dying. She watched as her son made his way over to the chips and grabbed a few handfuls before heading back to the open area where Stephanie, Goten, Ian, and Crystal were.

Ian and Crystal looked like completely different people. Neither wore the black clothes like they used to. Ian wore a red and grey t-shirt and blue jeans and his hair was not gelled for once. Crystal wore a baby blue sleeveless shirt and blue jeans. For the first time in a long while, they were enjoying themselves and making friends.

Ian tossed a yellow Frisbee to Goten as Stephanie's dog Cassie chased it playfully. The half-Saiyan caught the Frisbee before the dog could and jokingly taunted her with it. The animal barked twice before the boy tossed it back.

Trunks caught the Frisbee before Ian could and quickly rubbed the dog.

"Alright, lemme show you how it's done," the half-Saiyan bragged to the boy as he tossed it to Crystal.

The red haired girl chased after it and caught it as she laughed at Cassie. The dog jumped for the Frisbee, but the girl held it above her head.

"She all that, isn't she?" Trunks grinned at Ian, who smiled back. They watched Goten gently try to wrestle the toy away from Crystal as Cassie jumped around excitedly.

"And a bag of chips," Ian added as his girlfriend managed to throw the toy back.

"You're learning," Trunks laughed as Ian grabbed the Frisbee before the half-Saiyan could.

Stephanie laughed at them as she slowly made her way to her mom. She glanced over her shoulder to see the four teenagers dog-piling one another, all grabbing for the Frisbee, but Cassie rushed up and grabbed it up in her mouth, walking away happily.

"Lunch ready?" The girl asked as she laughed at the group of teens.

"That's so like a Saiyan," Bulma joked as she glanced over at the picnic table. "But I think it might be."

"Good!" The girl grinned. "I'm starving!"

"When are you not?" The woman teased her daughter as Chichi walked by them towards the open area where the teens were.

"C'mon, guys, lets eat!" The black haired woman shouted. She watched them quickly untangle themselves and assemble at the picnic table. "Grab a plate and line up!"

Bulma watched as they all crowded around the table. Laughter and various conversations filled the air as their plates slowly began to fill.

The blue haired genius watched her son as he joked around with Goten. The older of the two grabbed for a hamburger bun and quickly loaded it down with ketchup. The woman was forever indebted to Algernon for bringing the medicine to them in time. She did not even want to think about what would have happened if the man had gotten there a second later.

"C'mon, Mom!" Stephanie motioned for her mother. "Better get in line before all the food's gone."

Bulma smiled at her daughter, thankful nothing had happened to her, as she quickly got in line behind her.

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**A/N:** I know this one was short, but it was a good place to end, or so I thought. So here's my little Corner of Thanks. That's what I call it anyway. Here we go:

I'd like to thank:

**Candy the Duck, xXHeroine Of TimeXx, magmata, DH88, umidragon4, Garowyn, Psycho Dragon Lover, BballAnimeLover89, winter gurl, Charity, Maria Luca, Tomboy 601, and Waterwarrior of Darkness**

for all the reviews! Thank you guys so much!


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